Europe week ahead: ECB rate decision

(4:27)

The European Central Bank announces its latest rate decision and some in the market are talking about a cut. HSBC and U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer report their earnings. Sara Sjolin and Nina Bains discuss.

The move came as the Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers index showed activity at U.K. factories grew at a rapid pace in October, suggesting the industry made a strong start to the final quarter of the year. The gauge edged down to 56.0 in October from a downwardly revised 56.3 in September, but stayed above the 50-level that separates expansion from contraction.

“Manufacturing may not be the key driver of the current U.K. recovery at the moment and hard data has so far not lived up to the buoyant surveys. But with the domestic economy recovering strongly, all important export markets either growing or at least improving and a broadly stable exchange rate, output in this key sector looks set to contribute its share to the recovery,” said Christian Schulz, senior economist at Berenberg, in a note.

Among notable movers in London, shares of Vodafone
VOD, +0.13%VOD, +0.17%
picked up 3.6% after Bloomberg reported that AT&T Inc.
T, -0.53%
executives are exploring a takeover of the U.K. wireless-telecom giant as soon as next year. Representatives from AT&T and Vodafone declined to comment. Shares of AT&T rose 0.5% on Wall Street.

Barclays PLC
BARC, -2.24%BCS, -2.50%
dropped 2.8% after the bank suspended six currency traders as part of a probe into possible rigging of foreign-exchange markets, according to the BBC. A representative from Barclays declined to comment on the report.

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